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PR 2.0 Tactics

PR Squared

In Part 1 of this blogseries I noted that "it's simply in the marketer's nature to use & abuse new media channels on behalf of their clients." That's true, unfortunately, and the examples are legion.

But it's also true that it is in our nature to be highly respectful of our audiences. We study them. We learn their likes & dislikes. We build cordial relationships. We try to be helpful. We take the time to forge a bond.

This will be Marketing's salvation. (Specifically, these "respectful" attributes are more common among PR pros. So, it follows that this "natural" instinct will be the salvation of the PR industry in the Social Media age.)

I think that many of the mistakes and abuses that we've seen thus far have been the result of a lack of research. Social Media is new, exciting, and potentially lucrative, so --- so, it's land-grab time, people, and at such times the would-be zillionaires and wanna-be gurus get greedy, sloppy and short-sighted.

First come the organic successes (think Rocketboom) --- entrepreneurs who strike gold doing what they love.

Then the schemers buy the dreamers (Yahoo buys Flikr, del.icio.us; Google gobbles up YouTube).

Then everyone becomes a dreamer, and will stop at nothing to gain the attention of the schemers. At this point, both the schemers and the dreamers abandon authenticity. It becomes about $$$. That's when the mistakes start to happen.

This is PR's Big Moment. For the first time in memory, it's the PR pro who can rein things in a li'l bit. Why? Because we are hired for our expertise in relationship-building. "Catering to Community" is what we do.

When the client wants to do something that abuses the goodwill of the consumer; something inauthentic; something wrong-headed, it's going to be up to the PR pro to say, "No. That's not going to work. If it ain't real it ain't right. This campaign disrespects the community, and if we move forward, our reputation will suffer even more than yours."

For years, the PR pro's job has been about reaching out. In so doing, they have learned when to pull back. Do we know how to "spin" a message? Yes. Do we know when it's time to abandon "spin?" Yes. We know that sometimes the best "spin" is "no spin." Ultimately, PR pros are expert at understanding and catering to stakeholders. It's a hard-won skill. It will serve our clients well in the Social Media age.

It's in our nature.